In 2018, Shared_Studios collaborated with Johns Hopkins University to bring together students in Baltimore, Beirut, and Gaza through virtual-exchange “hackathons.” Students form teams through the Portal and work as one unit to solve a problem related to public health.

As part of one of our largest community activations, Shared_Studios curated connections from Times Square, New York, for a month at the end of 2017. Those connections opened a window from the Square to sites around the world, creating encounters between New Yorkers and Afghanis, Swedes, Mexicans and more.

In partnership with Narrative 4, Shared_Studios has launched Portals in schools in Floyd County, Kentucky; Tampico, Mexico; and in the Bronx, New York. Narrative 4 uses story exchange to build empathy, shatter stereotypes, and break down barriers between young people. These Portals connect regularly with one another to expose students to young people from diverse backgrounds, and to help those students build confidence in their public speaking, communication ability, and in themselves.

Andover Public Schools brings the Inflatable_Portal to different schools within the district, allowing for students of all ages to connect to Portal sites around the world. Students develop familiarity and understanding of communities from Erbil, Iraq to Kigali, Rwanda, and engage directly with people they would never otherwise encounter.

After the earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico, in February 2018, students at Marymount School worked with engineers and students in Mexico City to design earthquake resistant structures out of popsicle sticks. Students were able to collaborate across distance and culture and see the real-world impact of their STEM classes.

Working with Design Squad Global, Portals connected students at the WGBH Headquarters in Boston to students in Nairobi, Kenya, for a design challenge aimed at solving local community needs. Students were able to collaborate, working together to solve open-ended challenges towards a common goal.

Through Portal_Rooms at both sites, faculty at the United World College (UWC) secondary school in Montezuma, New Mexico, teach classes simultaneously attended by UWC students and youth at the Camino Nuevo Youth Detention Facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Portals connected students from Harvard Divinity School to aid workers and residents of refugee and displaced communities around the world. Participants spoke about the role and impact of distance education and how new startups led by former refugees are being used to tackle problems created by new humanitarian crises.

Portals regularly connect students and dancers at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs to performers in Kigali, Rwanda to collaborate, and explore the intersection between dance, addiction, and mental health. Alongside performance, participants discussed their own experience with dance and mental health, and probed the concept of performance as a means of therapy.

Shared_Studios collaborates with Johns Hopkins University to bring together students in Baltimore, Beirut, and Gaza through virtual-exchange “hackathons.” Students form teams through the Portal and work as one unit to solve a public health problem facing refugee communities in Beirut and Gaza.

In March 2016, Shared_Studios and Yale University began work on a research initiative designed to understand community perspectives on policing in the U.S. Portals were placed in cities with high rates of incarceration and police-community interaction.

Cornell University’s Olin Library hosted a Portal for a series of events, seminars, classes, and performances for undergraduate and graduate students. Connection topics ranged from discussions on migration with San Pedro Sula, Honduras to black speculative thought with Kigali, Rwanda.

A Portal outside the European Parliament connected elected officials to refugee and migrant communities to highlight Europe’s refugee crisis. Portals provided a direct feedback mechanism for MPs who were able to speak with those on-the-ground to better understand the impact of the policy decisions and legislation currently under review.

Working with Promalaga, the economic development arm of the City of Malaga, Portals showcased local artists and Spanish culture through virtual museum tours, film screenings, and history lessons for hundreds of participants around the world.

In 2017 Shared_Studios placed a Portal at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum for connections between museum-goers and displaced communities in Erbil, Iraq; Amman, Jordan; and Berlin, Germany. The exhibit connected the atrocities of the past and the refugee crises of the present, while humanizing complex geopolitical events that many attendees knew little about.

Turquoise Mountain connected global clients directly to its artisans in Kabul, Afghanistan. Consumers learned how furniture, clothing, and jewelry are made, and how their purchases are transforming lives in the communities that make them.

Zoom used Portals to show how its teleconferencing platform can connect diverse communities around the world. The company placed Portals at their annual event allowing employees and partners to see how their teleconferencing platform can operate in distinct environments to facilitate meaningful global conversations.

The Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum engaged Portals for its Kids Week, connecting astronauts and rocket scientists to school children in New York City. World-renowned scientists sparked imagination and a passion for science in this generation of future space explorers.

Portals facilitated powerful dialogues around family health at the Global Family Planning Summit co-sponsored by the UN Population Fund and the Gates Institute, connecting family health practitioners around the world, these conversations enabled vital exchange between the leaders who forge global health policy and the populations those policies impact.